Rose Bowl
Cross Regional Regatta
1/3-1/4
NUST sent five sailors to California for our first regatta in the big ‘26! Hosted by USC, the conditions were not typical of the sunny south-western coast. Instead there were “grey skies and rain showers rolling through,” making “the racing intense with short courses that made every start feel high-stakes” says freshman Rowan Spates, second in on the right. However, beyond the rain, “the best part was just the quality team bonding, nothing brings a crew together like shared snacks and strategy talks.”
Jeremy McIntyre Memorial Regatta
Cross Regional Regatta
2/21-2/22
The weekend of February 21st and 22nd, seven sailors representing NUST went to team race at the Jeremy McIntyre Memorial Regatta hosted by Stanford! Conditions were sunny, with medium wind conditions on the first day and light to medium wind conditions on the second. And, the team had a great chance to practice working together on the water, as freshman Gavin Eskilson, first on the left, said “We couldn’t wait to get back on the water after a long winter. This was the first time our three boats have raced together as a team, and I was proud of how quickly we built chemistry on the water. Facing tough competition, we learned a lot, and I’m really excited to see what we can do in the spring.”
Women’s Team & Fleet Race Qualifiers
Conference Championship
4/3
On April 3rd, NUST sent six women to the MSCA’s Women’s Team Race and Women’s Fleet Race National Qualifiers! It was a lovely day with high winds in the morning and lighter winds in the afternoon from the west. The team sailed nonstop all day, doing seven team races before lunch and eight fleet races after! NUST placed second in both fleet and team, and is looking forward to a very busy season. From freshman Charlie Meyers (holding trophy): “Although a good amount of us hadn’t sailed in FJs for a while, it was really great to get in some team and fleet races against UMich. With perfect weather and a great collaborative environment, we all walked away feeling like we learned a lot, and were very proud of our finish! I’m so glad I got to sail with so many admirable women, and truly can’t wait for the spring. Feeling readier than ever!” Thank you very much to University of Michigan for hosting on Baseline Lake, and for the experience the team acquired!
Team Race Clinic
Fundamental Regatta
4/4-4/5
The weekend of April 4th, NUST hosted a team racing clinic at our own sailing center! Teams from across the MCSA came to compete and extend their knowledge deeper into the art of team racing. The wind was medium to heavy all throughout the weekend, perfect for the large variety of drills run on Saturday, and the races run on Sunday, A huge thank you to Matt McBrien from Columbia Yacht Club for spending his weekend coaching us, and to Nicholas Chesemore (‘27) for organizing the event and making sure so many teams had the opportunity to come and team race! As Nick (second in on the back right) said, “it was awesome to have the opportunity to plan and execute an additional team racing event for Midwest sailors. Getting to have structured practice and coaching throughout day 1, and races on day 2 led to lots of fruitful learning.”
Laker Showdown
Fundamental Regatta
4/11-4/12
NUST sent eleven freshman sailors and two mentors to Michigan to compete in an introductory regatta at Grand Valley State University. Wind was extraordinarily shifty the first day, leading to a crazy course and lots of improvisation on the water, and races were cancelled the second day due to an excess of wind. Yet no matter the on-the-water dramatics, Molly Coogan (bottom left) said “I had a really great time at GVSU! Our older teammates with more experience were super helpful in keeping us comfortable on and off the water. The conditions probably could have been better for sailing, but I had a blast and I feel like I bonded a lot with the team.
MCSA Open Fleet & Team Race Qualifiers
Conference Championship
4/10-4/11
On April 10th, 2026, Northwestern University Sailing Team qualified for team race nationals for the first time in nine years! It was an incredible moment for the team, going undefeated for the day with a 10-0 record. The next day, NUST placed third in fleet, unfortunately not qualifying for fleet race nationals, and the regatta was ended on Saturday due to extraordinarily high winds on Sunday. As Miranda Beitel says, “quals felt like all the hours we had put in on and off the water finally came together. There were many beautiful moments where we all knew what needed to happen to put ourselves in a winning position and were able to execute. After we beat the last team I felt so much joy and relief . . . I felt incredibly proud to be a part of this journey and the success we have found.” The team has worked incredibly hard over the past year to make this happen, and we look forward to sailing at Team Race Nationals April 23-24!
NU Spring
Fundamental Regatta
4/18-4/19
We hosted our annual spring regatta at the Northwestern Sailing Center for eleven regional schools, and Northwestern was represented with four berths! The weather was extraordinarily windy, putting all boats to work, and unfortunately caused races to be cancelled on Sunday. It was a great experience for a variety of skill levels on the Northwestern team, not only did we take first and second overall, but we also placed first through third in A Fleet and first and second in B Fleet! Thank you to our regatta chair, Elliott Yoder (top left), for putting an incredible event together! As he said, it was a joy to bring “a lot of teams from the Midwest together, and it was especially exciting . . . that NU spring provided an opportunity for a lot of people to sail their first regatta.”
ICSA Open Team Race National Championships
National Championship Finals Regatta
4/23-4/24
For the first time in nine years, we made it to Team Race Nationals in New Orleans, LA. We sent eight sailors to sale fifteen races against the top fifteen team racing teams in the country! The wind was perfect for team racing, light to medium with a decent amount of chop on Lake Pontchartrain. While we remained defeated in every race, the team learned a lot by watching other schools, and the broadcasters mentioned that NUST was “ a competitive squad and .. gave some teams a really hard run and … that speaks volumes to their improvement and progress in the Midwest.” A huge thank you to Tulane for hosting this event, NUST is incredibly grateful to have made it to Team Race Nationals, and we hope to look forward to years of continued success building off of what we learned in New Orleans!